Terrible precedence Bush has caused

I think what Bush has done will have major repercussions in the furture... He walked into Iraq with out Un sanction... well whats going to happen now? Will mainland China attack Tiawan now?? Will India go after Pakistan too using the same logic as GWB?? Will N Korea use Bush's reasons to invade the South again?? Now folks will say "Hey We were doing like Bush did" "we are protecting our interests"..... I think what has happened has changed the face of world politics for ever.. and has done in The UN security council for good

http://www.canada.com/national/story.as ... E0637ED0FE
Americans 'disappointed' Canada won't join coalition: Thousands of troops take up positions for invasion that could come tonight

WASHINGTON - The United States yesterday claimed the support of 45 countries for its war on Iraq, which could start as early as tonight after Saddam Hussein rejected George W. Bush's demand that he leave the country within 48 hours.

Thousands of U.S. Marines set off in tanks, armoured vehicles and trucks across the Kuwaiti desert yesterday to take up battle positions. Preparations by some 280,000 American and British troops for an invasion of Iraq intensified a day after the U.S. President delivered his ultimatum.

Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, called Saddam's continued defiance his "final mistake."

"The President still hopes he will take the ultimatum seriously and leave the country," he said.

The list of countries supporting war includes 15 that do not want to be publicly identified, a U.S. State Department official said. It does not include Canada, a fact the United States said it regrets.

"We're disappointed that some of our closest allies, including Canada, do not agree on the urgent need for action," said Richard Boucher, the U.S. State Department spokesman, adding that it was impossible to predict whether Canada's decision to sit out the war would affect other aspects of the bilateral relationship.

Colin Powell, the U.S. Secretary of State, unveiled the slate of supporters as Washington strove to show it is not isolated after failing to win the backing of the UN Security Council for a war.

Although only Britain has committed a sizeable military force, Mr. Powell said 45 nations have joined the U.S.-led alliance.

"We now have a coalition of the willing that includes some 30 nations who publicly said they could be included in such a listing," Mr. Powell said. "And there are 15 other nations, for one reason or another, who do not wish to be publicly named but will be supporting the coalition."

Mr. Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said the published list includes all those that want to be publicly associated with the idea that Iraq has to be disarmed now, whether or not they are providing any assistance to the U.S. war effort.

Under an ultimatum issued by Mr. Bush on Monday night, the only way Iraq can avoid war is for Saddam and his two sons to leave the country. The ultimatum expires at 4 a.m. tomorrow Baghdad time, or 8 p.m. EST today.

The Iraqi leader was unmoved yesterday. Wearing a military uniform for the first time in years, the self-appointed Field Marshal presided over a joint meeting of the ruling Baath Party and the Revolutionary Command Council, the country's highest executive body, where the U.S. demand was rejected.

"Iraq does not choose its path on the orders of a foreigner and does not choose its leaders according to the decrees from Washington, London or Tel Aviv, but through the will of the great Iraqi people," said a statement read on Iraqi television after the meeting.

Mr. Fleischer made it clear U.S. forces are going to enter Iraq even if Saddam chooses exile, saying they are needed to ensure all weapons of mass destruction are eliminated.

Mr. Bush tried yesterday to broaden the coalition, reaching out to Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, and Hu Jintao, China's new leader, in phone calls that Mr. Fleischer said went well but which did not change those countries' opposition to war.

Mr. Putin and Mr. Bush "openly acknowledged that they don't see eye to eye on whether or not force should be used to disarm Saddam Hussein," Mr. Fleischer said.

France, a relentless opponent as Washington sought Security Council approval for war, tried to mend fences by suggesting it would join the U.S.-led coalition if Saddam uses chemical or biological weapons against the invasion force. But Jacques Chirac, the French President, again reiterated his view that Iraq "does not represent today an immediate threat that would justify an immediate war," a sentiment shared by Gerhard Schroeder, the German Chancellor.

Despite the obvious difference in the level of commitment, U.S. officials are comparing the current alliance with that assembled for the 1991 Gulf War, when 31 countries offered military help, many with substantial numbers of troops on the ground.

This time, the only soldiers likely to pull a trigger in the coming war are the 250,000 Americans, 30,000 British soldiers and perhaps the 2,000 Australians.

Several other nations, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Albania and Romania, are offering military forces, but only specialized units such as chemical and biological warfare troops, not front-line forces.

Even Spain, a crucial U.S. ally on the United Nations Security Council, demurred from sending combat troops, opting instead to send medical and engineering specialists.

Most of the other nations on the list are providing basing and overflight rights, while Japan, which is on the list, intends to help only after the fighting is over.

It was unclear what contribution was being offered by impoverished countries such as Eritrea and Ethiopia, although Mr. Boucher said the criteria for becoming a coalition member were fairly elastic.

"They may have just decided that they want to be publicly associated with the effort to disarm Iraq," he said.

Turkey was also included on the list of 30, although its parliament is still considering whether to allow U.S. troops to use its territory to open a second front against Iraq, a decision it could make as early as today.

No Arab countries are on the public list of 30, although several Persian Gulf states, including Kuwait and Qatar, are helping the war effort by allowing U.S. troops on to their territory and may be among the secretive 15 allies.

Even in many officially supportive nations, public opinion is strongly against war. In Great Britain, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, yesterday defeated a motion by rebels in his Labour Party to find that the case for war with Iraq "has not yet been established."

In the United States, Mr. Bush was benefitting from a rally-'round-the-flag sentiment, with opinion polls showing a jump in support for war. A Gallup poll taken just after his speech on Monday night found that two-thirds of Americans approved of Mr. Bush's ultimatum to Saddam and 68% thought the United States had done all it could to resolve the crisis through diplomacy.

However, the poll also found that seven in 10 respondents are nervous, an understandable state of mind with the country at the second-highest level of alert for terrorist attacks, intelligence officials warning that another attack is a near certainty, tighter security at national parks and monuments, and Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House closed even to pedestrian traffic.

While Americans are uniting behind the President, Mr. Bush's support in Congress may be shakier.

Opposition Democrats, while supporting the troops about to attack Iraq, found fault with the White House's diplomacy for failing to create a wider coalition. Senator John Kerry, a presidential candidate, said the administration "could not possibly have been more inept or self-defeating."

Even pro-war Republicans were balking at the White House's domestic agenda, which includes more massive tax cuts. There was also griping about the administration's refusal to provide any estimate for what the war will cost in dollars and lives until after the fighting begins.

Tonight: Once fighting breaks out, Global National with Kevin Newman will break from regular programming and embark immediately on hour-by-hour continuous reports.; [email protected]

Â© Copyright 2003 National Post

The criteria for being a country that has joined the American Axis Of Evil is an overwhelming need for foreign aid or good will, which the U.S. has promised them for their efforts.

Hopefully Canada has learned by now that we are stronger for not joining in the genocide. Hopefully too, everyone is boycotting American goods and services so as not to fuel the money machine that funds/needs this mass murder. Hopefully, what Canada will gain is, if I may use one of my favourite phrases, a Maple Curtain. The U.S. needs us more than we need them. They need our resources. Without our energy, fresh water, wood, etc. they are very badly off. As I said elsewhere, eventually they will have to attack us if they keep on our present course. Their money is becoming worthless and they have to get the resources somehow. They threw Afghanistan into chaos over a pipeline and are doing the same to Iraq for a few oil wells. They will come for Canada's water and hydroelectric power. It is just a matter of time and a question of who is strongest as to the outcome.

Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze man I wish I smoked what you've been smokin. We NEED the US.......We only do about 60% of our trade with 'em.

They want our power and our resources, GUESS WHAT! They could take 'em, but because of people like you and our gloriously spineless Chretien Government, our military has been castrated and made an international bitch to anyone who'd dare to come into our country.

I'd be surprised if the US would stand up and help us now in the event of some kind of catastrophe........

We NEED the US, but now we've helped them prove they don't need us........
Not for a war partner, maybe not for a trade partner........

I don't think the US would ever "come after" Canada. And if they did, i think almost the entire world would be on our side, Britain included.

And for there "Coalition of the Willing" its nothing more than war propaganda. Too bad those countries are almost all small countries, countries in need of US aid, countries trying to get into NATO and need US backing. With an exception of a few of course.

At least it seems by the way things are going that the capaign will be farily swift. It even looks as if they might have taken out Sadam already.

It's important to point out that most of the countries backing the U.S. don't have the popular support of their population . America wants democracy in the middle east , and there was a recent demonstration of that in Turkey . The population was overwhelmingly against joining in , and the Turkish government gave in to the will of the people . See below :

de-moc-ra-cy n, pl-cies
1 : government by the people; esp
:rule of the majority 2 : a government
in which the supreme power is held by
the people 3 : a political unit that has
a democratic government 4 cap : the
principles and policies of the Demo -
cratic party in the U.S. 5 : the com -
mon people esp. when constituting
the source of political authority 6
: the absence of hereditary or arbi -
trary class distinctions or privleges

If there is another definition of democracy , I'd like to see it .

http://www.prospect.org/print/v14/4/starr-p.html

Canada needs the US like I need a mean six hundred pound woman around who eats everything in sight just because she can cook bacon and eggs. We supply the raw materials, the Yanks cook 'em, then sell the products back to us for more than their worth.

They tried to take it once.

How in the heck can the idiots install democracy in Iraq when they haven't got it at home yet? Most Yanks are very quick to tell one that Shrub hasn't got the popular vote. After that Florida voting fiasco it would surprise me if he had any.

My pop tells me that when they started in Korea they said, "The boys'll be home by Christmas." They said the same in every conquest they've tried to make and there are still boys in Korea, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and a few other places in the world. They are trying a bit of empire building and it's crumbling faster than they can build.

Canada and the Yanks are like the kid in the schoolyard that hangs around Johnny because he's bigger. He doesn't want to notice that Johnny craps his pants all the time and has fallen three grades behind, because even though he's grown bigger and stronger than Johnny, and was always smarter, he thinks of Johnny as his protector. Let's stop giving Johnny our lunch.

I am a Canuck ex-pat in Korea and trust me, they don't celebrate Christmas. If I had a dollar, even a Canadian dollar, for every time a Canuck is attacked by crazed Koreans who think we are American, I would certainly be rich.
Things are naturally tense here. It's hard for me not to sympathize with Koreans because I have a Korean family here. US troops have been quickly and quietly moved here and there this week in the wake of protests.